Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season and New Year

As we prepare for the end of the fall 2012 semester and the upcoming winter break, I would like to wish everyone a joyful and restful holiday season and new year.

For me personally, my first six months as president of this outstanding institution have been incredibly busy, yet also immensely enjoyable and fulfilling. I have appreciated the warm welcome I have received from all quarters of the campus community, including students, faculty, staff, and our friends and supporters in the surrounding region. I have learned much and confirmed CSUN's well-deserved reputation as a positive, collaborative environment that is well positioned to move forward and grow, even with the challenges that lie ahead. We are a community that is responsive, relevant and ready to help students meet their academic and professional goals — an institution that truly shines brightly.

Beginning with the summer and continuing through the semester, I feel much has been accomplished. I have met with a large number of students, faculty, staff, and campus supporters in a variety of venues both large and intimate and set forth key priorities based on what I have learned in my early "listening tour" that will guide the university's focus in the coming years. I am committed to student success and to ensuring that our work in service to students and the community, and the overall excellence of Cal State Northridge, become better known in the community and throughout the state and beyond.

I am grateful for the commitment of our faculty and staff and the talented students who have chosen to attend CSUN. All of you have shown yourselves to be strongly engaged with the mission and goals of the university, and everyone's contributions and good wishes have been very important to both my husband, John Wujack, and me since our arrival.

In this spirit, I wish each of you an enjoyable and safe winter break spent in the company of friends, family and loved ones, and hope everyone finds time to relax, have fun, and renew themselves for the new semester and the new year.